


Chat And Mouse Game

by maxsaystowrite



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-13 10:40:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7973836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maxsaystowrite/pseuds/maxsaystowrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette is back in Paris after years of travel. She meets up with everyone from her past. But it's not until late that night that she meets an old flame. There, Adrien puts together the mystery that has framed his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chat And Mouse Game

“We haven’t been to Paris in a long time,” Tikki said from Marinette's pocket. Marinette looked around the city she once called home. “Did you miss it?”

 

Her heart ached, eyes tracing the familiar skyline. “ _ So _ much.” 

 

During the day, she saw everyone she had missed. He parents welcomed her home with open arms. Alya and Nino treated her to lunch. Manon met her after school and retold her entire year, catching Marionette up on all of the gossip. When Manon needed to do homework, Marinette left.

 

The sky reminded her of a watercolor painting. The colors bled from concentrated dots, filling out the canvas above her head. The sun was setting, but Marinette didn’t want to go home. She missed the Paris nightlife. It had its loud, booming clubs, but it also had those cafés in the dark corners that smelled of smoke even without cigarettes and sounded like raw poetry from someone who wrote their soul down on a napkin the last time they felt something real.

 

_ The Wishing Well  _ was a café towards the edge of Paris run by an American woman who wasn’t much older than Marinette. They sold sliders, onion rings, and other things that were categorised as “American” bar food. Tonight there was Jazz music playing. A clarinet, trumpet, piano, and bass player all crowded onto the small stage under the dimmed lights.

 

Marinette sat and listened to them, hands grasping a mug of coffee, taking in the moment that will never happen again.

 

“Marinette?” Someone called. Her head snapped up to meet the person who called her.

 

“Adrien?” His hair was shorter then she remembered. Short sides and a long top, flopping down into his eyes. His green eyes that she could see through the dark.

 

He smiled bright. “Oh my gosh! It’s been so long! I haven’t seen you since graduation!”

 

Instinctually, Marinette shot up and hugged him tight. She didn’t know what made her do it, maybe it was her breaking from her high school shell, maybe it was the shock of seeing him, maybe it was the feelings she thought she lost coming back with an intensity.

 

Adrien wrapped his arms around her and squeezed, laughing in her ear. “I’m guessing you missed me too?”

 

Marinette blushed and laughed, pulling away from the hug. “Probably more than I realized.”

 

“Can I, uh, can I buy you your next coffee?”

 

“I’d love you to.”

 

They sit back at the small table and start discussing their lives since the moment of graduation.

 

“I can’t believe you traveled the world! Where did you go?” Adrien asked. He missed her, almost too much. Seeing her here tonight felt like the fire inside him was lit once again. 

 

She tapped her fingers on the table, trying to think. “Well, first I went to China, to see my mother’s home. Then I went to Japan, Hong Kong, and some other islands around there.” 

 

Adrien’s smile faded slightly. 

 

“Then, after that, I was in India for about two years. It was beautiful there,” She laughed. “I actually became a vegetarian while I was there! Um, after that, I was in the Middle East for a year, mainly Israel though.”

 

His smile dropped completely.

 

“I toured the entirety of Africa in two years. I felt like I could have spent more time there but I couldn’t stay in one place for long! I did America and Canada in a year. South America was a year… Australia…. And I’ve been in East Europe this year, and, well, now I’m home!”

 

“Wow… Mari…. That’s a lot…” Adrien said under his breath.

 

She giggled. “Yeah! I guess you could say I’m well traveled.” Marinette looked down suddenly. “Uh, could you give me a minute?”

 

“Yeah, of course.”

 

Marionette left with her phone to her ear to the bathroom. Adrien sat and stared at the empty space in front of him. He had been following Ladybug across the world for the past nine years. She played it like a game, telling Chat only miniscule hints about the next city.

 

_ “I’m leaving Paris, Chat.” Ladybug said. _

 

_ His heart dropped, he could hear it in his ears. “What?! You can’t leave Paris!” His voice caught before he could say ‘You can’t leave me’. “Where are you going?” _

 

_ “I’m going to the land of walls and  _ _ chrysanthemums.” She said, hopping off the building they were perched on and leaving Chat dumbfounded and confused. _

 

It took Adrien a week to figure out where she was going. Once he understood, he booked the next trip to Beijing. She was shocked to see him at first. Then she played into it as much as he did.

 

The list Marinette recited was their tour together. Adrien had been everywhere Marinette was, at the same time. There was no way it was a coincidence. There’s no way. 

 

He shouldn’t be surprised; they both have made his heart race since the moment they met. He was in love with both of them. Now, he just doesn’t have to chose.

 

Marinette came back, phone in her hand. “Hey, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I need to go, uh, my mom’s not feeling well and they want me to open the bakery tomorrow.”

 

“Oh… Alright. I guess I’ll see you around?”

 

She smiled at him. “Definitely.” She left without another word. He looked down at his watch. It was just about time for Ladybug and Chat’s meeting.

 

“Let’s go Plagg… Or we’ll be late.”

 

Ladybug saw Chat’s feet dangling from the Eiffel Tower. She chuckled to herself.  _ Such a show off, we’re back in Paris and he has to make sure everyone knows it. _

 

When she made her own way up she smiled, tracing her fingers along the railing he was sitting atop. 

 

“You figured it out.”

 

“Your clue was too simple this time.”

 

“Oh? Was it?” Ladybug played coy. 

 

Chat smiled, trying so hard not to. “‘The place where we began.’ Yes, I think it was too simple.”

 

“And why’s that?” She got closer to him, almost leaning on him. 

 

“How could I ever forget where we started?”

 

Her head was tilted up, her lips forced into a smaller smile than what she truly felt. On any other night, in any other city, he would kiss her and he would feel like she was the adventure of his life, and he would follow her and kiss her anywhere. But not in Paris, not now. Not now that he knew. 

 

“I thought it would all run together… Maybe you would have ended up in Beijing. I could have been talking about our travels.” Ladybug said. She was leaning on him this time. She wanted him to kiss her, like he has been. She’s always been a romantic that way.

 

“Oh, I know you better than that, Marinette.”

 

“Well, after all these years, I hope-” Her voice dropped, her brain registering what her ears had just heard. She looked up at him, mouth open and eyes wide.

 

His expression didn’t change, riddled with confusion and unsure about everything. She jerked back, starting towards the door backwards, she couldn't leave her back turned to him anymore.

 

_ He knows who I am. I have to leave. I have to go. I have to find somewhere else again. Somewhere we haven’t been together I have to- _

 

Chat began to peal away his mask. The obscurity of his face faded. It hurt her eyes to watch, it was like his whole face distorted around his mask. As he became clear, Marinette gasped. Adrien’s eyes peered back at her, through the darkness again. 

 

“When you were telling me about your travels, you never told me about the Chat and mouse game you played.”

  
Marionette couldn’t help but laugh even though tears flowed down her cheeks. With that joke, it all made sense. It all aligned. It all became crystal clear.

**Author's Note:**

> Uuuuh yeah it's short and to the point but I wrote it in like 3 hours XD any who, go read my other stuff, I have more Miraculous, Voltron, RWBY, gravity falls, and kingsman.


End file.
